Its February! Cue the red and pink everything! This month is particularly exciting for me because I am doing something that I’ve always wanted to do and I am celebrating my birthday! I also wanted to continue the theme of building healthy habits in 2018. I’m hoping that establishing healthy habits now will make aging a little easier (haha).

Here is how I am finding balance in February:

Mardi Gras

Attending Mardi Gras in New Orleans has been on my ultimate bucket list for as long as I could remember. As a student, I was never able to go because it is always on a Tuesday and would be disruptive to my studies. However, as an online graduate student I have the flexibility to take my studies on the go! I also knew it was a sign that I should go when I realized that Mardi Gras occurs just 2 days before my birthday! I turned it into a birthday trip with two of my closest friends from freshman year of undergrad ♥. Can you tell that I am SUPER excited!!??!!

Brother/Sister Birthday Date

Speaking of birthdays, my little brother was born on my 13th birthday. Now that he’s older, I told him that we should start a tradition where we get together and celebrate our birthday, just the two of us. Looking forward to celebrating with my birthday twin!

Celebrate Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s day is right around the corner and I have honestly always enjoyed it. Some people reduce it to just a commercialized holiday, but I enjoy the little expressions of love. You don’t have to be in a serious relationship to celebrate it!

Try a New Exercise Class

Now that I am getting back into the swing of things, I thought I would mix it up and add a different type of exercise class to my repertoire. I really enjoy my current routine, but it will be nice to add an additional challenge!

Take the Stairs More

Working on incorporating another healthy habit into my life! I don’t work on a high floor in my office, and yet, every day when I walk in, I head straight to the elevator. This month, I’m going to work on taking the stairs more. The more I incorporate it, the easier it will be to make the healthy choice.

Read Every Day

I miss reading for pleasure, but I acknowledge that I just don’t have as much free time as I once had. I’ve mentioned before that I feel guilty when reading for pleasure…if I can read for pleasure, then I could be reading texts and articles for school. However, I want to make it a goal to read for pleasure every day. It could be a paragraph, a page, or a chapter. The goal is to have a little time to do something that I love and take a minute to destress from everything else that I have going on.

One Whole30 Meal a Week

Although I am going to be doing a bit of traveling, I really don’t want to abandon everything that I learned with the Whole30. In efforts to avoid this, I’m going to try to incorporate at least one Whole30 meal into my week.

What goals are you tackling this February? Let me know in the comments below!